Public Affairs - Agricultural Policy and Regulatory Matters

Food and agricultural businesses struggle today to stay abreast of the changing legislative and regulatory actions being implemented at the local, state and federal level.

Ice Miller's public affairs professionals well understand the importance of issue monitoring and influencing, as well as relationship building with public officials. They work closely with our food and agricultural clients to represent their interests in the Indiana, Illinois and Ohio state legislatures, as well as in Washington, D.C. These professionals represent clients when pressure is brought to bear by the administrative, legislative and regulatory actions of governments, NGOs, activist groups and others. Most importantly, Ice Miller's Public Affairs Team works proactively with agricultural clients to defeat potentially damaging laws and regulations brought about through areas such as:

Activists and animal welfare groups

Farm Bill programs

Farm labor, safety and immigration issues

Trade association and organizations

Environmental issues

Health and safety issues

Regulatory affairs

Transportation matters

The Ice Miller Public Affairs Team also provides our clients with the following services:

Strategic advice

Issuance of briefing papers

Coalition development and management

Identification of key legislative champions and authors

Complete legislation drafting

Preparation and delivery of committee testimony

Direct lobbying and accurate vote tallies

Executive branch approval

Timely updates

Community relations

In addition, we can executive a full program of targeted services such as:

Grass top recruitment

Grassroots support

Representative Clients

Representative Experience

Agribusiness Council of Indiana. Ice Miller's director of agribusiness strategies serves as president of ACI and provides executive and strategic direction for key initiatives and represents ACI at state, regional and national industry gatherings. Ice Miller's Public Affairs Group closely monitors and informs members on key state and federal issues, and represents ACI before the Indiana General Assembly and other key regulatory agencies. Ice Miller also coordinates efforts with ACI's national affiliates, including CropLife America, The Fertilizer Institute, American Seed Trade Association, Ag Retailers Association, National Grain and Feed Association, and American Feed Industry Association, to provide support on important policy and regulatory issues.

CLAAS. Ice Miller has worked closely with CLAAS of America, Claas Omaha Inc., and their parent company, Claas KGaA for over two decades, helping them on a wide variety of legal matters throughout North America including advice on distributor agreements, product liability and warranty claims, labor issues, and general risk management.

CountryMark. Ice Miller represents CountryMark on policy and regulatory issues at both the state and federal level. Our attorneys have also assisted with a major biofuels grant submission to the U.S. Department of Energy as well as corporate representation on the acquisition of assets of a Midwestern oil and gas exploration and production company.